Fuel tank trailer

ABSTRACT

A fuel tank trailer has a fuel tank supported on the bed of the trailer, and a secondary containment wall surrounding the fuel tank to provide an open secondary containment region. A drain valve controls the flow of fuel and water collecting in the secondary containment region. A fuel separation filter separates the fuel from any water draining from the secondary containment region.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of fuel tanktrailers. More specifically, the present invention discloses a fuel tanktrail with a secondary containment wall and filter for separating fuelfrom water.

2. Statement of the Problem

Fuel tank trailers have been widely used for many years. Some fuel tanktrailers are little more than a fuel tank with wheels and a trailerhitch, but this provides no means for secondary containment of fuelleaking or spilling from the tank. One approach to this problem has beento use a double-walled tank. The void between the tank walls provides asecondary containment region for any fuel leaking from the inner tank.However, double-walled tanks are significantly more expensive toconstruct. In addition, it can be difficult to detect leakage from theinner tank, particularly at the initial stages of a leakage problem ifonly a small amount of fuel is escaping from the inner tank. Somedouble-walled tanks attempt to address this problem by installing asight glass or access port into the secondary containment region betweenthe tank walls. Nonetheless, it is advantageous to be able to visuallyinspect as much of the exterior surface of the fuel tank as possible sothat leakage problems can be detected as soon as possible.

Secondary containment walls or berms have also been widely used for manyyears, particular for stationary fuel tanks. For example, large fueltanks in tank farms are typically surrounded by an earthen berm forsecondary containment. Many smaller stationary fuel tanks and othertypes of tanks for containing flammable or hazardous liquids are alsoequipped with a secondary containment wall or berm.

One problem associated with an open secondary containment region is thatrain water, dew, and melting snow can also accumulate in the secondarycontainment region and result in a mixture of fuel and water. Thismixture presents a fire hazard and an environmental risk, and so cannotbe readily disposed of without treatment. This poses a significantproblem and has been viewed as a significant limitation of opensecondary containment systems. Therefore, a need exists for a opensecondary containment system that provides a means for addressing theproblem of fuel and water accumulating in the secondary containmentregion.

The prior art in this field includes the following:

Inventor Patent No. Issue Date Erickson 6,715,195 Apr. 6, 2004 Page5,232,246 Aug. 3, 1993 Marino 5,071,166 Dec. 10, 1991 Morris 4,482,017Nov. 13, 1984 Kerr 3,604,719 Sep. 14, 1971 Dascanio 3,352,461 Nov. 14,1967 Kachnik 3,263,865 Aug. 2, 1966 Brehany et al. 2,567,164 Sep. 11,1951 Taylor 2,421,765 Jun. 10, 1947

Marino discloses a transportable holding tank that has an inner tank anda surrounding rigid enclosure for containment. Marino's tank assemblyhas small wheels at one end of the support frame.

Brehany et al. disclose a portable double-walled tank.

Kerr discloses a towable liquid storage tank that is held by a tub-likesaddle.

Erickson discloses a towable tank for mixing and delivering material,such as asphalt. An agitation member is used for mixing within the tank.

Taylor discloses a tank with multiple compartments. The remainingreferences are only of passing interest.

Solution to the Problem.

None of the prior art references discussed above show a fuel tanktrailer having an open secondary containment region and a fuelseparation filter to separate water from any fuel collecting in thesecondary containment region. This approach combines the advantages ofan open secondary containment system with a convenient of means fortreating the fuel/water mixture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a fuel tank trailer having a fuel tank supportedon the bed of the trailer, and a secondary containment wall surroundingthe fuel tank to provide an open secondary containment region. A drainvalve controls the flow of fuel and water collecting in the secondarycontainment region. A fuel separation filter separates the fuel from anywater draining from the secondary containment region.

These and other advantages, features, and objects of the presentinvention will be more readily understood in view of the followingdetailed description and the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more readily understood in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the fuel tank trailer.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of a portion of the fuel tank trailer.

FIG. 3 is a detail vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of thetrailer 20 adjacent to the drain valve 27 including the filter bucket50.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the spill kit 40.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning to FIG. 1, a front perspective view is provided showing anembodiment of the present fuel tank trailer. The fuel tank 10 issupported on the bed of the trailer 20 and can be of virtually anyconventional construction. For example, the tank 10 can be eithersingle-walled or double-walled. In the preferred embodiment, the fueltank 10 includes a filler port 11 for filling the tank 10, as well as anatmospheric vent 12 and emergency vent 13. A fill level sight gauge 14provides an externally visible indication of the fuel level in the tank10. The interior of the tank 10 can also be accessed through an emptyport 15, shown in FIG. 2, to remove all of the fuel from the tank 10 inpreparation for cleaning and maintenance. In normal operation, fuel canbe withdrawn from the tank 10 by means of a pump 17. Optionally, theamount of fuel dispensed can be measured by a meter 16. Fuel can bedelivered via a hose 31 with a standard nozzle. The hose 31 can storedin a hose reel 32 mounted to the trailer 20 when not in use.

The trailer 20 is mounted on wheels 22 and can be towed by means of itstrailer hitch 21. A number of stanchions 23 can be lowered from thetrailer to support the bed of the trailer in a generally horizontalorientation when the trailer 20 is not being towed. Optionally, a numberof tank supports 24 can be used to cradle and support the tank 10 on thebed of the trailer 20, as depicted in FIG. 2. This may be especiallynecessary if the tank 10 has a rounded or curved vertical cross-section.

A secondary containment wall 25 surrounds the tank 10 on the bed of thetrailer 20. The enclosed area between the tank 10 and the secondarycontainment wall 25 defines a secondary containment region surroundingthe fuel tank 10 to hold any fuel leaking from the fuel tank 10. Thesecondary containment region is open for visual inspection to determinewhether fuel is leaking from the fuel tank 10. For example, thesecondary containment wall 25 can extend around the perimeter of the bedof the trailer 20 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The height of thesecondary containment wall 25 should be great enough so that thesecondary containment region can be hold the entire contents of the tank10, if necessary. However, it should be sufficiently low to allowconvenient access to the tank 10 and permit visual inspection of thesecondary containment region and the tank 10. Optionally, the exposedsurfaces of the secondary containment region (i.e., the trailer bed andinterior surfaces of the secondary containment walls 25) can be treatedwith a polymeric coating to reduce rust and corrosion.

A drain valve 27 in the bed of the trailer 20 controls drainage offuel/water 26 from the secondary containment region, as shown in FIG. 3.If only water has collected in the secondary containment region, thiscan be allowed to drain onto the ground without treatment simply byopening the drain valve 27. On the other hand, if visual inspectionreveals that fuel has leaked from the tank 10 and collected in thesecondary containment region, a fuel separation filter 50 can be placedbeneath the drain valve 27, as illustrated in FIG. 3, to separate thewater from the fuel in the mixture draining through the valve 27.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the fuel separation filter 50 is abucket containing a filter material 52 that selectively absorbs oil,gasoline and other hydrocarbon-based fuels, while not absorbing water.For example, “Oil-Only PIG” absorbent material marketed by New PigCorporation of Tipton, Pa., can be used as the filter material 52. Thismaterial contains a cellulose pulp core with an outer layer ofpolypropylene. Small holes 54 in the bottom of the bucket 50 allow waterto escape. Thus, any water in the mixture draining into the bucketpercolates through the filter material 52 and flows out through theholes 54. In contrast, any fuel in the mixture will be absorbed by thefilter material 54. After filtering has been completed, the filtermaterial 52 and any trapped fuel can be removed for incineration,disposal, or further treatment.

Optionally, the fuel tank trailer can also be equipped with a spillclean-up kit 40 to remove small fuel spills. An example of a spillclean-up kit 40 is shown in FIG. 4. This kit 40 includes rubber gloves41, absorbent pads 42, clay 43, and other absorbent materials 44. A fireextinguisher 45 can also be mounted to the trailer 20.

The above disclosure sets forth a number of embodiments of the presentinvention described in detail with respect to the accompanying drawings.Those skilled in this art will appreciate that various changes,modifications, other structural arrangements, and other embodimentscould be practiced under the teachings of the present invention withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention as set forth in the followingclaims.

1. A fuel tank trailer comprising: a fuel tank; a trailer having a bedsupporting the fuel tank; a secondary containment wall surrounding thefuel tank on the trailer providing an open secondary containment regionfor collection of any fuel leaking from the fuel tank; a drain valvecontrolling the flow of fuel and any water collecting in the secondarycontainment region; a fuel separation filter operatively associated withthe drain valve for separating the fuel from any water draining throughthe drain valve from the secondary containment region; and a spillclean-up kit containing materials for cleaning up fuel spills andselectively attachable to the trailer.
 2. The fuel tank trailer of claim1 wherein the secondary containment wall extends around the perimeter ofthe bed of the trailer.
 3. A fuel tank trailer comprising: a fuel tank;a trailer having a bed supporting the fuel tank; a secondary containmentwall surrounding the fuel tank on the trailer providing an opensecondary containment region for collection of any fuel leaking from thefuel tank; a drain valve controlling the flow of fuel and any watercollecting in the secondary containment region; a fuel separation filteroperatively associated with the drain valve for separating the fuel fromany water draining through the drain valve from the secondarycontainment region; and the drain valve is in the bed of the trailer. 4.A fuel tank trailer of comprising: a fuel tank; a trailer having a bedsupporting the fuel tank; a secondary containment wall surrounding thefuel tank on the trailer providing an open secondary containment regionfor collection of any fuel leaking from the fuel tank; a drain valvecontrolling the flow of fuel and any water collecting in the secondarycontainment region; a fuel separation filter operatively associated withthe drain valve for separating the fuel from any water draining throughthe drain valve from the secondary containment region; and the secondarycontainment region is open for visual inspection to detect leakage offuel from the fuel tank.
 5. The fuel tank trailer of claim 1 wherein thefuel separation filter comprises a bucket containing filter materialretaining the fuel, and wherein the bucket has holes allowing drainageof water from the bucket.
 6. The fuel tank trailer of claim 5 whereinthe filter material comprises a cellulose pulp core and an outer layerof polypropylene.
 7. The fuel tank trailer of claim 1 wherein thetrailer further comprises wheels.
 8. A fuel tank trailer comprising: afuel tank; a trailer having a bed supporting the fuel tank; a secondarycontainment wall surrounding the fuel tank on the trailer providing anopen secondary containment region for collection of any fuel leakingfrom the fuel tank; a drain valve controlling the flow of fuel and anywater collecting in the secondary containment region; a fuel separationfilter operatively associated with the drain valve for separating thefuel from any water draining through the drain valve from the secondarycontainment region; and a polymeric coating on the surfaces of thesecondary containment region.
 9. A fuel tank trailer comprising: a fueltank; a trailer having; (a) wheels; (b) a bed supporting the fuel tank;(c) a secondary containment wall extending around the perimeter of thebed of the trailer defining an secondary containment region surroundingthe fuel tank that is open for visual inspection to detect leakage offuel from the fuel tank; and (d) a drain valve controlling the flow offuel and any water collecting in the secondary containment region; and afuel separation filter operatively associated with the drain valve forseparating the fuel from any water draining through the drain valve fromthe secondary containment region.
 10. The fuel tank trailer of claim 9wherein the drain valve is in the bed of the trailer.
 11. The fuel tanktrailer of claim 9 wherein the fuel separation filter comprises a bucketcontaining filter material retaining the fuel, and wherein the buckethas holes allowing drainage of water from the bucket.
 12. The fuel tanktrailer of claim 11 wherein the filter material comprises a cellulosepulp core and an outer layer of polypropylene.
 13. The fuel tank trailerof claim 9 further comprising a polymeric coating on the surfaces of thesecondary containment region.
 14. A fuel tank trailer comprising: a fueltank; a trailer having; (a) a bed supporting the fuel tank; (b) asecondary containment wall surrounding the fuel tank on the trailerproviding an open secondary containment region for collection of anyfuel leaking from the fuel tank; and (c) a drain valve controlling theflow of fuel and any water collecting in the secondary containmentregion; a fuel separation filter operatively associated with the drainvalve for separating the fuel from any water draining through the drainvalve from the secondary containment region having: (a) a bucket withholes allowing water to escape from the bucket; and (b) filter materialwithin the bucket retaining any fuel; and a polymeric coating on thesurfaces of the secondary containment region.
 15. The fuel tank trailerof claim 14 wherein the secondary containment wall extends around theperimeter of the bed of the trailer.
 16. The fuel tank trailer of claim14 wherein the filter material comprises a cellulose pulp core and anouter layer of polypropylene.